Luxury Real Estate

"Our previous website was a consumer favorite when it launched in 2003," said Randall Kostick, Chief Operating Officer, Zephyr Real Estate. "With all the advances since then, we wanted to maintain -- and surpass -- that precedent, to provide our agents and their clients with the best tools available."

Zephyr began the process about 15 months ago with the goal of creating a new website with a simple design, intuitive user interface and meaningful content that would be a useful, relevant real estate and community resource. Months were spent analyzing peer websites as well as those of other industry leaders, attending conferences and assembling a team to build the vision.

"The top three things most visitors seek when they visit a real estate site are a comprehensive property search, neighborhood information and market trends," stated Melody Foster-Brown, Director of Marketing.

"Even more important than having that information is making sure it's accurate and relevant to the marketplace. San Francisco has very nuanced neighborhood and school data, so rather than licensing from a third party with no understanding of the area, we took painstaking care to ensure our content was both well presented and hyper-local."

Most sites offer market trends by zip code (there are 30 in San Francisco), which is less helpful in a city where there are 89 neighborhoods. Zephyr has fine-tuned the data so that the information is pertinent and genuinely valuable.

"We use the MLS neighborhoods designated and used by the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® and by property appraisers to generate our market data, not zip codes," said Matthew Borland, Managing Broker/Partner. "Our neighborhood-level market trends take you inside the real numbers to give our clients the insight needed to make informed decisions."

The new www.zephyrsf.com offers unprecedented and in-depth coverage of the 89 neighborhoods of San Francisco, featuring profiles, videos, maps, market trends, demographics, available properties and open homes. In addition, visitors who register have access to Multiple Listing Service (MLS) information previously unavailable to the general public. Visitors with a MyZephyr account can search sold properties, save favorites, track the value of their own property and receive email alerts on new matches and price changes.

"The site is built to be expanded and enhanced as new technologies and resources become available," stated Hud Bixler, Director of Technology. "We've launched it, but that doesn't mean we're finished. We are able to integrate new applications and content seamlessly into this dynamic site."

For example, public school selection in San Francisco is not determined geographically but by using a complex lottery system, which is organized, explained and made searchable on the Zephyr website. As the school district's system evolves, Zephyr's website will continue to provide the updated information to its visitors in a user-friendly environment.

"Our team set out to create a new site that positions Zephyr well ahead of anything else out there. We contracted with Marker Seven and put together an incredible in-house team to work together to build our vision," said Borland. "It's been a challenging, yet rewarding project."

About Zephyr Real Estate

Founded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San Francisco's largest independent real estate firm with approximately $1 billion in annual gross sales in 2009 and a current roster of more than 200 full-time agents. Zephyr has six offices strategically located in San Francisco and serves a large customer base throughout the City. For information, visit www.zephyrsf.com.

Courtesy of: Katrina Delgado of John Daughtery, Realtors

In the JDR tradition of community involvement, John Daugherty was invited to teach at Rice University for the fifth year running. Taught in Rice’s prestigious Jones Business School, the Real Estate Development class is offered to second-year MBA candidates.

To promote the importance of the professional real estate agent, John Daugherty pointedly recalled earlier, less expeditious times. Mr. Daugherty recollected an era when Realtors were required to await the arrival of the MLS book in contrast to the spontaneity of today’s MLS system, providing immediate access to the constantly occurring changes. But while Mr. Daugherty offered praise for today’s new and instantaneous technologies, he counseled the continued value of firms like JDR. He made the point that despite the Web’s impact on the real estate market agents are still vital to the buyer to help them find the right property.

Mr. Daugherty stressed JDR’s commitment to the continued use of technology as a marketing and networking tool and underscored the importance and vitality of the professional agent, an importance that with the advent of current and future new technologies has made the real estate agent even more necessary to the market today.

By Janice Ridge

There are studies that indicate that both buyers and their agents are attracted to online listings that include photos. In fact, when I am searching MLS for a property for a client, I won’t even look at a listing that doesn’t have photos! And I am a real-estate professional! Truth is, most MLS photos are not that good. That’s why most real estate professionals go directly to the agent’s website to see better photos. I imagine the online consumer does, too.

In general, you would think that with the huge marketing opportunity of presenting photos online the quality would be better, but it isn’t. At LuxuryRealEstate.com, we are committed to making our photos stand out. I think we do a great job, don’t you?

But what I want to know is this: Does anyone know of any studies that show that videos on the Internet help to sell real estate? Is this something in which LuxuryRealEstate.com should invest for our members’ listings? Or are you as happy as I am with the quality of the online photos on LuxuryRealEstate.com?


Editor’s Note:
As the Director of Membership & Relocation at LuxuryRealEstate.com, and herself a licensed REALTOR®, Janice Ridge is devoted to coordinating the efforts of all of the LuxuryRealEstate.com membership and Account Managers, so that each of our members is given superior service. Photos are essential for advertising luxury homes for sale, whether in print or online media. I can’t think of a better photographer than Ilya Moshenskiy, the Principal Photographer of Ilya’s Photography. He is one of the finest luxury photographers in the business, and he can bring out the most amazing qualities in your homes. Jim Walberg recently gave some wonderful praise for Ilya’s fine photography. The photo above is an example of Ilya’s work and it is copyright of Ilya’s Photography.

By Robert Lockard

I originally planned on writing this blog entry earlier this week on the proposed settlement between the National Association of REALTORS® and the Department of Justice that would allow multiple listing service members to make private MLS information available to non-members. However, immediately after the story broke, plenty of real-estate bloggers came up with all sorts of reactions, positive, negative and neutral. Now I’m having trouble coming up with something to add to their expert opinions. I hope you’ll bear with me.

I’ll start by quoting Malcom Forbes (1919-1990), the father of Steve Forbes, current publisher of Forbes Magazine, “It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem.” My knowledge of the MLS is certainly not as impressive as those who have already voiced their opinions, but I’ll just try to bring my thoughts to the table in an interesting way and you can feel free to correct me if I mistake some details.

It seems to me that this really shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I agree with what Geoff Lewis, Senior Counsel for RE/MAX International, said in Glenn Roberts Jr.’s Inman News article entitled “Blogosphere reacts to proposed NAR/DOJ settlement.” He basically said that a lot of the information that will be opened up to public use by this decision has already been made public through free online sites.

The majority of home buyers start their search for a new home online and so, if you think about it, they’re already finding the homes they’re looking for without needing to log on to websites controlled by MLS members. There’s a lot of free information already available online. For example, buyers don’t have to pay anything to search for luxury properties on LuxuryRealEstate.com, even though they can find more than 55,000 such properties in 100 countries on that site.

It’s advantageous for brokers to share information freely with buyers and sellers because then they can allow the right people to find the properties they’re seeking more quickly. At least that’s what I think.

As Mr. Forbes eloquently pointed out earlier, it’s easy to say what I think, but I might not have the whole picture. The MLS, which I understand is not a completely homogenized collection of listings but a variety of different ones in different formats, is not necessarily a public good. It was created by a private organization to give a competitive advantage to specific professionals, and there might be less of an incentive to provide this service if there are few limits to who can access it.

The Internet age is changing the way we think about many things, including marketing and real estate. But perhaps it’s still true that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyway, that’s my contribution to this wonderful exchange of ideas known as the blogosphere.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. I welcome your input on this story. The Multiple Listing Service logo above is from: www.nsrealestate.ca/listings4.htm.

By Allyson Metters

We have all seen listings on the MLS with photos that are less than flattering. Some photos I have seen make me question: a) what the real-estate agents could possibly have been thinking, and b) what in the world they are trying to sell. In today’s market – particularly the luxury market – presentation is so important. In fact, its importance can hardly be overstated. After all, with more than 80 percent of buyers starting their home search online, agents and sellers need to get the best photos possible to remain competitive and attract buyers.

Connecticut agent Athol Kay has a popular blog dedicated to bad MLS photos. Kay says his purpose is to “rid the world of bad real estate photos that ultimately cost unsuspecting sellers money,” and he has developed quite a following. Take a look when you are in need of some entertainment. And remember that a picture is worth a thousand words …and maybe a million dollars.


Editor’s Note:
Allyson Metters is the Relocation Manager for LuxuryRealEstate.com. She helps people who are moving to find a perfect broker to meet their needs in their new area. Athol Kay’s blog is very funny, and I highly recommend it, as well. It’s a good reminder of what not to do. I tend to live by the old adage, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” However, sometimes it can be better to point out serious flaws, instead of letting people make the same mistake time after time. By the way, if you want to have only amazing pictures of your properties, visit Ilya Estate Photography, the official photographer of Luxury Real Estate conferences. He’s very good!